Central Valley Professionals

Monthly Newsletter
March 2014

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Page

To Contact CVP:
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 10 3302 N. Blackstone Ave., Suite 225 Fresno, CA 93726 (559) 230-4063 cvpfresno@gmail.com www.cvpfresno.org CVP Coordinator: Annette Wholaver (559) 230-3628 Edited by:
Darlene E. Lobkowski darlenelob@gmail.com & Roselyn Walker roselynwalker@aol.com

About Central Valley Professionals Members Who Got a Job this Month CVP Committees, Meeting & Facilitator Training Times Upcoming Events to Put on Your Calendar Leadership Job Fair Photo and March Seminar Class Photo Committee Communications Article How to Turn Fired into Hired! Article How to Explain Being Fired Article Apollo 11: The Computers that Put Man on the Moon A Special Note of Thanks and Recognition Happy St. Patricks Day!

About Central Valley Professionals

Central Valley Professionals (CVP) is the local chapter of Experience Unlimited, a networking group of unemployed and/or underemployed mid- and upper-level technical and managerial job-seeking professionals, which is sponsored by the Employment Development Department (EDD). The EDD provides our active members with the resources and guidance on job search activities, which meet and conform to the State and Federal laws, Equal Employment and all Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws. CVPs mission is to provide a supportive environment to allow active members to assist others and obtain employment and return to work as soon as possible. All our services are free to new and active members, as well as all Central Valley employers. Listed below are the services that CVP provides: Classes/workshops/training sessions for job searching Computers, printer, Internet and Wi-Fi access Telephones, fax and copy machines Employee job listings and referrals Resource library Guest speakers that speak at a seminar once a month

Congratulations!
Got a Job: Barbara May Silvia Montoya-Gomez Arturo Rodriguez Additional February Jobs: Sue Schramm Melanie Marquez Sandy Martinez Paula Parker

Central Valley Professionals Committees

ADMINISTRATION: This committee creates and catalogues all forms and flyers used by CVP to make sure the content is approved. They maintain membership files, create name badges and produce the Rsum Book. This committee is also responsible for presenting semi-weekly Orientation sessions, maintaining the CVP calendar of events, and preparing the Newsletter. COMPUTER SERVICES: This committee maintains the CVP member database, provides reports to the CVP Coordinator, and provides member information to other CVP committee chairs and co-chairs. They also provide computer assistance to members who need it. INFORMATION & RESOURCE: This committees primary responsibility is communication. They use the web and social media to connect employers with people seeking employment. They maintain the CVP website. INTERVIEW: This committee offers practice interviews to new members. They videotape the interview, if the member gives consent. Practice interviews are done on the first Thursday after seminar week. MARKETING: This committee builds and maintains a positive image of CVP. They create and deliver a message of value for the membership, clients and community. They network with local media, businesses and organizations to promote the message of CVP. RSUM: This committee reviews rsums for inclusion on the website, CD and Rsum Book, as well as reviews and edits new member rsums. They work together to ensure that CVP members have a resource for developing their best rsums. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: This committee is responsible for facilitator training, scheduling speakers and workshops, preparing handouts and putting on the monthly CVP seminar. They provide administrative support as requested by seminar guest speakers and maintain the training room during the seminar.

Facilitator Training
(Now presented as a Workshop during Seminar)

CVP Committee Meeting Times

Administration: 11:00 a.m. - Tuesdays Computer Services: 9:30 p.m. - Tuesdays Information & Resource: 9:30 a.m. - Fridays Interview: 11:00 a.m. - Thursdays Marketing: 9:30 a.m. - Fridays Rsum: 9:00 a.m. - Wednesdays Training & Development: 9:30 a.m. - Wednesdays

NO

Committee meetings during Seminar week, except the Computer Services and Rsum Committees.

Upcoming Events
Check these dates and mark your calendar
Rsum Reviews:
Call David Silva, Chair, of the Rsum Committee to schedule your appointment time or submit your rsum to cvpresume@gmail.com; be sure to use the appropriate subject line: CVP-Resume Initial Submission or CVP-Resume Revised Submission.

Practice Interviews:
Call Robert Bob Croeni, Chair of the Interview Committee, to schedule an appointment time.

Job Fairs:
Mar. 20: 9 12 2014 Spring Job Fair Madera County Workforce Assistance Ctr. And City of Madera Parks & Community Services Pan American Comm. Center, 703 E. Sherwood Way (corner of Sherwood & Austin), Madera, CA

Mar. 26: 10 2 Fresnos Biggest Job Fair Annual Dept. of Social Services, Fresno Fairgrounds, 1121 S. Chance Ave., Fresno, CA Apr. 10: 9 2 at West Hills College in Lemoore, CA (Highway 41 north of Highway 198)

May 29:

9 2 at Clovis Veterans Memorial Bldg., 453 Hughes Ave., Clovis, CA (5th and Hughes)

We need members to volunteer for our upcoming job fairs, and this is a good way to help you get your monthly hours in. Please contact Jamie Rowland or Paul Ventura if you are interested in working at one of these events.

Look for flyers on these job fairs at the CVP office.

Wednesday Workshops at 10:30 a.m.:

Mar. 19 Mar. 26 TBA Rescheduled due to big Job Fair at Fresno Fairgrounds today

Apr. 2
Apr. 16 Apr. 23 Apr. 30

Surviving the Difficult Interview by Barbara Beckerley

Creating & Managing Passwords by Terry Zody Cutting Expenses by J. Rudy Crook Opening the Closed Aged Door by Robbie Cranch, et al

Please check our website calendar or one of the printouts in the CVP office for other upcoming dates and times.

Veterans Job Fair

Jamie Rowland, Chair of IRC & Marketing Cmtes. (back right) checks out an employer at the Veterans Job Fair held at the American Legion Hall Post 509 on Thursday, February 20, 2014. Photo from The Fresno Bee article

2014 CVP Seminar Class - March

Graduates (L - R): Tod Harris, Barbara C. Barkley, Lisa de Brito & Frank Stoff.

From the Marketing Committee

Business Cards
When you go to an interview, please ask for business cards (two) so you can keep one and you can then place one in the large glass jar by the CVP SIGN-IN LOG. Be sure to print your name on the back of the card for us for future reference. It is our plan to follow up with the companies to: Develop a relationship with each enterprise Network for future job placement opportunities Establish a wider presence in the Fresno/Clovis area The idea is to keep an ongoing listing of these businesses for future communication.

Changes in Leadership
Information Resource & Marketing Committees Chair Jamie Rowland Co-Chair Edna Collins Rsum Committee Chair David Silva Co-Chair (vacant)

The Executive Council

Articles of Interest to Job Seekers How to Turn Fired I n t o Hired!

In this tight economy, is it possible to turn fired into hired? YES! But its all in how you craft your response. Heres a quick how-to In this tight economy, is it possible to turn fired into hired? Find out Caution: There will be a test! But this is better news than you think. When you understand what youre being tested on, its easy to prepare. I used this trick all through college. If I could get a feel for what my professors expected, I would know exactly what to study. I didnt become a subject matter expert, but I became a great test-taker! Thats your role during an interview. Your objective in answering the fired question is to score an A on your job interview, not to deep dive into the details of your previous termination. Your objective is to pass the test. applicants dwell on the details, argue their cases, or cast blame, your well-prepared response is going to shine in contrast.

How do you craft a response?

Obviously, get clear on what really happened. Dont sugarcoat. At this point, just relax. Were not interviewing yet; were just reflecting. You cant fake honesty (your body language and your reference checks will give you away). Spend your time getting comfortable with the truth, not rewriting it. Now, write your one- to three-minute story. It has three short parts: before, what changed, and where I am now. Before: What did you love about your job before things went downhill? State this in a single thought such as, I loved working directly with customers and helping them visualize what they wanted to see in the end result. Change: Over time, my role turned into 90% paperwork and only 10% customer interfacing. Im not a bad writer, but my real passion is people and my lack of ambition in my new role was evident. I was wrong for not recognizing this sooner, but Ive recently taken a career profile test and I now understand where I perform and what areas I could improve. Now: Now, share what you learned or why your future employer can expect their arrangement with you to end more positively than your last one. You would explain like this: Thats why I am here. Ive researched your company and this position. It greatly resembles my original role at XYZ Company. Im excited about the opportunity here to team up with a requirements writer and think well make a great team. If my role here should change, Ill be the first to speak up and discuss it. See how this formula speaks directly to the interviewers concerns about you, succinctly and sufficiently with maturity and professionalism?

What is your interviewer looking for?

Think of it this way: How you answer the question of being fired reveals more about you than the details of the firing do. In short, your answer is more important than your reason. Most people have been fired at least once in their careers. Your interviewer has probably seen both sides. Firing is not the issue, but discussing it is a great way to unveil potential character flaws or undesirable personality traits like dishonesty or cynicism. When other

How do you prepare for the actual moment?

Allow plenty of time! You need to be able to do this without emotion and without missing a beat. Confidence and clarity is everything. In this case, practice makes perfect.

Write your 3-step story and recite it until youre repeating it in your sleep. Even if you are asked followup questions (not likely), youll have a solid outline to refer to. Youve already addressed the past, youve explained the reason and your involvement in it, and demonstrated new behavior by taking a class or career test to improve your performance. If you havent taken steps like these, do it! Even if the firing wasnt your fault, youre going to look like a rock star. Dont forget to practice nonverbal responses, too. Hold your posture and your gaze when the question is first asked and while you are responding. Anticipate the question and youll be less likely to slouch, sigh or sweat when it comes up! Keep still and hold your voice steady (remember, youve rehearsed this a thousand times). Also, dont take the question or responses personally. Passing an interview with flying colors is less about

your job skills and history, and more about your ability to market yourself and to respond with maturity in difficult situations. You are essentially selling yourself as the best possible candidate. If you practice these things truthfully, youll feel confident and it will show. Youll probably be more comfortable than the person asking the question! December 26, 2013 by Sandy Neumann Photo Credit: Shutterstock Read more at http://www.careerealism.com/turnfired-into-hired/#mzpfSkv15tl31hKi.99

How to Explain Being Fired

J.T.: However, why you left your last job remains a crucial question, one that could determine the outcome of the interview. You need to highlight what you loved about the job and then be objective about what ended it. Something like this: For four years I loved my job as a teller. In the final months, a new manager was brought in. Im not sure why, but we didnt connect. I did my best to support him, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, I was let go. In hindsight, I shouldve realized we werent meshing and looked for a new job. I held on in the hopes that I could fix it. Now, I want to find a place where I can get back to doing what I love caring for customers.

Dear J.T. & Dale: I loved my last job as a teller at a bank. I was there for four years when they brought in a new manager. Instantly, I could tell I wasnt going to last long. Nothing I did made him happy, and I went home in tears most nights. Finally, I made a mistake he could use, and he terminated me. Do you know how to explain being fired? No matter what I come up with, it makes me look bad. - Jessica DALE: First off, lets put being fired in perspective. Harvey Mackay, best known for his book Swim With The Sharks, devoted a later book, Fired Up!, to stories of people bouncing back from being axed. He writes, If youre under 30, the likelihood youll be fired in the next 20 years is 90 percent. That sounds a tad high, but the point is that the person interviewing you probably has gone through the experience. Remember that, and youll relax into the topic.

DALE: Well said. Resist the temptation, Jessica, to say more. Just be so positive and upbeat that your attitude says: Hey, it happens. No big deal. Not a problem. 2012 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Feel free to send questions to J.T. and Dale at advice@jtanddale.com or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019. February 10, 2013 by J.T. & Dale Photo Credit: Shutterstock Read more at http://www.careerealism.com/explainbeing-fired/#kz9HxO33mFx0jSWc.99

Apollo 11: The computers that put man on the moon

Cliff Saran It is hard to appreciate the technical challenges involved in putting a man on the moon, but 1960s computer technology played a fundamental role.
By today's standards, the IT Nasa used in the Apollo manned lunar program is pretty basic. But while they were no more powerful than a pocket calculator, these ingenious computer systems were able to guide astronauts across 356,000 km of space from the Earth to the Moon and return them safely. The lunar program led to the development of safety-critical systems and the practice of software engineering to program those systems. Much of this knowledge gleaned from the Apollo program forms the basis of modern computing.

The so-called Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) used a real-time operating system, which enabled astronauts to enter simple commands by typing in pairs of nouns and verbs, to control the spacecraft. It was more basic than the electronics in modern toasters that have computer controlled stop/start/defrost buttons. It had approximately 64Kbyte of memory and operated at 0.043MHz. The instruction manual for the AGC shows the computer had a small set of machine code instructions, which were used to program the hardware to run various tasks the astronauts needed. The AGC program, called Luminary, was coded in a language called Mac, (MIT Algebraic Compiler), which was then converted by hand into assembler language that the computer could understand. The assembler code was fed into the AGC using punch cards. The AGC was designed to be fault-tolerant and was able to run several subprograms in priority order. Each of these subprograms was given a time slot to use

Apollo Guidance Computer

The lunar mission used a command module computer designed at MIT and built by Raytheon, which paved the way to "fly by wire" aircraft. Amazingly, the code listing for the AGC program can be downloaded as a PDF file. There is also an equivalent program for the lunar lander.

the computer's sparse resources. During the mission the AGC became overloaded and issued a "1202" alarm code. Neil Armstrong asked Mission Control for clarification on the 1202 error. Jack Garman, a computer engineer at Nasa (pictured below left), who worked on the Apollo Guidance Program Section, told mission control that the error could be ignored in this instance, which meant the mission could continue. Apollo 11 landed a few seconds later. Experts cite the AGC as fundamental to the evolution of the integrated circuit. It is regarded as the first embedded computer. The importance of this computer was highlighted in a lecture by astronaut David Scott who said: "If you have a basketball and a baseball 14 feet apart, where the baseball represents the moon and the basketball

Goddard Space Flight Center used IBM System/360 Model 75s for communications across Nasa and the spacecraft. IBM Huntsville designed and programed the Saturn rocket instrument unit, while the Saturn launch computer at the Kennedy Space Center was operated by IBM. An IBM System/360 Model 75 was also used at Nasa's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. This computer was used by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to calculate lift-off data required to launch the Lunar Module off the Moon's surface and enable it to rendezvous with Command Module pilot Michael Collins for the flight back to Earth. At the time, IBM described the 6Mbyte programs it developed, to monitor the spacecrafts environmental

and astronauts' biomedical data, as the most complex software ever written. Even the simplest software today would far exceed the technical constraints the Apollo team worked under. The Apollo program was pre-Moores's Law: In 1965 Intel co-founder Gordon Moore wrote his vision of how the performance of computer hardware would double every 18 months for the same price. That a USB memory stick today is more powerful than the computers that put man on the moon is testimony to the relentless pace of technological development encompassed in Moore's Law. However, the Apollo program proved that computers could be entrusted with human lives. Man and machine worked in unison to achieve something 40 years ago, that has yet to be surpassed. http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Apollo-11The-computers-that-put-man-on-the-moon

represents the Earth, and you take a piece of paper sideways, the thinness of the paper would be the corridor you have to hit when you come back." While the astronauts would probably have preferred to fly the spacecraft manually, only the AGC could provide the accuracy in navigation and control required to send them to the Moon and return them safely home again, independent of any Earth-based navigation system.

IBM computers on Apollo 11

Along with the AGC, mainframes were also heavily used in the Apollo program. Over 3,500 IBM employees were involved, (pictured below). The

Carl Popstein Training & Development Committee Chair

Its been my pleasure to work with Carl as part of our CVP Leadership team for some time now, and he is dedicated to Central Valley Professionals. As a former member of the Rsum Committee, he compiled the booklet distributed at the monthly Seminar during that committees presentation. Last year he transferred to the Training & Development Committee and was elevated to Chair when Bob Wilburns job necessitated his relinquishing the chairmanship. Carl has done a great job taking over the reins of this committee and striving to make our presentations more professional. He continues to donate the colored paper used for various documents utilized during the Seminar and has done an excellent job in showing the daily schedule on our white board by using the blue pockets that he attaches to it in the seminar conference room each day. Thank you, Carl, for the great person that you are and your service to our country in the United States Navy during the Vietnam era!

Darlene Lobkowski, Admin. Committee Chair

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